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Thursday, January 29, 2009

If you are a fan of females artists such as Bjork, Santogold, MIA, Feist or of male artists like Radiohead, David Byrne, Peter Gabriel, and if the `Mali Music` or `Monkey: Journey to the West` phase of Damon Albarn musical career is something you enjoyed, then Juana Molina should be right up your street (phew).

Her newest release `Un Dia` is filled with songs that range anywhere from the sweet and heartfelt like `Vive Solo` (where there`s a hint of Jane`s Addiction) and `Los Hongos De Marosa` to the more experimental tribal jazz drones laced with electronica of the title track and `No Llama`. It doesn`t matter if you can`t understand what she is saying half the time because the music takes over and tells you all you need to know. This is such a "sweet" little album, you can`t help but like it. It`s experimental enough to be cool but put together with enough skill and care that you truly appreciate sitting back and listening to it. Juana uses her voice as a real instrument as well as the glue that helps to hold all the odd percussion and random sounds that fill the album. Throw in a little pop sensibility and it all adds up to a lot of fun.

As the lyrics to `Un Dia` say (translated) "One day I will sing the songs with no lyrics and everyone can imagine for themselves if it`s abut love, disappointment, banalities or about Plato" and Juana Molina has done just that. She has made an album that anyone anywhere can listen to and enjoy regardless of what language you speak. The music (wait for it) speaks for itself.

If you didn`t like Lambchop`s last nine albums then the odds are this one isn`t going to change your mind. If you are, like me, a fan then their latest release may be one of their best yet. One of the things I respect most about this Nashville-based band is that they go seamlessly from Blues to Country to Folk to Jazz and Rock without breaking a sweat.

Lambchop through the years has consisted of a large collective of musicians (as many as twenty three members on previous albums) but always focused around front man Kurt Wagner. His distinctive songwriting is very minimalistic but, setting him apart from other minimalist songwriters, is the large group of backing musicians and the range of instruments and styles that come with having such a diverse collection of players. Wagner`s voice (that is already hit or miss to some) is used very well here, sometimes as background and sometimes as the main driving force. The opening track `Ohio` kicks off with a sweet piano and guitar melody then adds background vocals that accompany Wagner as he sings one of my favorite lines on the album `green doesn`t matter when you`re blue`.

Some of the more upbeat songs like the awesomely titled `National Talk Like a Pirate Day`, `I`m Thinking of a Number (Between 1 and 2)` and `Sharing a Gibson with Martin Luther King Jr.` provide a nice change of pace for the mostly laid back album. In the song `A Hold Of You` Wagner sings (and talks) of a pencil and makes it sound deep and interesting with lyrics like `It looks like others in our hands/It writes crazy things instead/It can make a list or describe a thought/Can draw a line or route/But it can`t make you respond to this.`

Musically, for Lampchop fans, this album may be nothing new but, of all the Indie Folk that has been released lately, this definitely rises to the top. After almost twenty years in the music business Lampchop have honed their skills and produced an album that is highly recommended.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

GregWilson began DJing in 1975 (the year I was born, scary!) and is regarded as one of the most important figures on the UK dance scene. He enjoyed hugely popular residencies in the early eighties at Wigan Pier and Manchester's majorly influential Legend. He was a pioneer of mixing in the UK and in 1983 he became the first ‘dance music’ DJ hired for a regular weekly session at Manchester's now legendary Hacienda club.

Greg was instrumental in breaking the new electronic, post-disco records coming out of New York, a sound he has dubbed ‘Electro-Funk’. In 2003 he set up his own website electrofunkroots to document this crucial era in the evolution of dance culture. After retiring from DJ work at the end of 1983, Greg returned to spinning records 2 decades later to massive acclaim, with red-hot appearances at renowned nights including Electric Chair, Horse Meat Disco, Fabric, Back To Basics, Asylum, Melting Pot and the Sub Club, to name but a few. He’s also appeared in the US, Australia and various European countries during recent years, plus a number of major festivals in the UK and Ireland.

In 2005 Tirk Records released ‘Credit to the Edit’, a compilation of re-edits spanning Greg's entire career, some even original tape edits from back in the day (Greg still uses his trusty old Revox reel-to-reel tape machine when DJing out). This wasn't Greg's first compilation either, having collaborated on most of the tracks to appear on the Street Sounds ‘UK Electro’ LP in 1984, as well as being the selector behind the ‘Classic Electro Mastercuts’ LP in 1994.

Other firsts for Greg include being the first DJ to mix live on British TV (the Tube in 1983), putting together the first UK radio mixes of their type for Piccadilly 261 in Manchester (beginning 1982) and showing a certain Norman Cook how to scratch (Dec ’83).

Greg has written for magazines / webzines like Wax Poetics, Grand Slam and Discopia, and has a monthly online radio series, ‘Time Capsule’, on Samurai FM.

Please enjoy this truly ESSENTIAL mix from one of the worlds best DJs.

If Iron & Wine used more electronica or if The Postal Service employed more folk then the result would be the sound of James Yuill. James Yuill is a twenty-something singer/songwriter from London who has been quietly crafting fantastic "Folktronica" on his laptop over the last couple of years.

With `Turning Down Water For Air` James has made an album where acoustic guitars collide with bleeps and blips that should entice any fan of `modern` music. `Head Over Heels` and `The Ghost` are perfect examples of this new genre while `No Pins Allowed` (the first single) is the most dancefloor-friendly track on the album. `How Could I Lose?`, on the other hand, is lo-fi bliss and its use of strings is wonderful.

James combines the emotional depth of Radiohead with the beat craftsmanship of The Chemical Brothers and, between great songwriting and slick production, James has made a useful niche for himself and I look forward to seeing how he grows with future releases.

Fucked Up`s `The Chemistry Of Common Life` is a really interesting album. It is full of full, well made, thoughtful music and interesting lyrics. It`s just that the lyrics are screamed and the music is played at almost a thrash level. Even with all that it still comes across as real, honest, enjoyable music. While often described as being `Punk` or `Hardcore`, they don`t let themselves get pigeon-holed into the normal Punk/Hardcore sound - which allows for some very interesting sounds to emerge.

The album starter `Son the Father` even starts out with a flute before building into a guitar and drum frenzy. `Golden Seal` later shows the band`s more creative side as they make one of the album highlights, filled with piano and weird guitar noise. `Crooked Head` begins as a Sonic Youth track before moving into Modest Mouse territory. Songs like `No Epiphany` and `Looking for God ` continue to show how, musically, Fucked Up are a great band with serious talent. They could be even better (IMO) if they shy away from the yelling and actually sing.

The Dears, which currently consist of Murray Lightburn (lead vocals, guitars, keyboards) and Natalia Yanchak (keyboards, backing vocals), have made a wonderfully emotional and somewhat uplifting album with their newest outing ` Missiles`. I would even go so far as to call a lot of the album dark, symphonic pop, just based on all the parts that make up each song - it`s obvious that a lot of heart and feeling went into the making of this album. The perceived pain in some tracks may take root in the fact most of the band left during the recording.

`Missiles` is by far a better album as a whole then anything they done before. There are hints of Jarvis Cocker and Damon Albarn in there as well as nods to shoegazers Ride and Catherine Wheel. Songs like `Disclaimer` (which is loaded with wonderful saxophone) and `Money Babes (which builds to a very fulfilling peak before bringing you back down to earth) are perfect examples of the band`s growth. `Dream Job` and Berlin Heart` sound like Blur b-sides but doesn`t take away from the warmth and emotion that The Dears manage to get out of almost every song. Whether using subtle strings or a soft voice to do it, The Dears know how to make an album that will make the listener feel better, richer for having heard it. `Lights Off` is an eight minute long journey that could be compared to Radiohead`s `Paranoid Android` in feeling and complexity. Natalia sings lead vocals on `Crisis 1 & 2` and really helps add to the richness of the album. The albums namesake `Missiles" builds softly until the fuzzy bass kicks in and the reverb vocals build into a wall of sound - a truly enjoyable listen. The rest of the album is perfect for those long, rainy Sunday drives when you do a lot of soul searching and thinking about your life.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Before the Beastie Boys released `Paul`s Boutique` and before DJ Shadow began diggin` through crates to make `Endtroducing`, there was Steinski. `What Does it All Mean?` is a collection of bootleg mixes by Steinski that range from 1983 to 2006. As a whole, the album is just as important today as `Lesson 1- the payoff mix` was when it hit the airwaves in 1983 and it`s still funny that a record produced by a pair of nerdy white guys remains one the greatest hip-hop singles ever released.

In 1983 Steve Stein ("Steinski") and audio engineering partner Doug DiFranco ("Double Dee") assembled `The Payoff Mix` for a Tommy Boy Records remix contest. Taking the new `Play That Beat Mr. D.J.` and drawing on both DiFranco`s tape-editing skills and Steinski`s encyclopedic knowledge of not just hip-hop but popular music in general, they threw in everything from `Rockit` and `I`ll Tumble For You` to audio snippets of popular movies. The judges, who included Afrika Bambaataa and Jellybean Benitez among others, unanimously selected the mix as the contest winner and distributed copies to radio stations. This was a real coup since Double Dee and Steinski, unlike their new peers, were not actual DJs per se.

Besides containing all three "lessons" (`The Payoff Mix`, `James Brown Mix` and `History of Hip Hop`) it also has the Kennedy themed `The Motorcade Sped On`, the Desert Storm themed `It`s Up To You`, the 911 inspired `Number Three On Flight Eleven` and many more classic Steinski tracks that you may or may not have heard before. Besides becoming part of hip hop history, with the tracks he sampled showing up in loads of other pioneering hip hop artists tracks, Steinski has been named as an important influence to artists such as Coldcut, DJ Shadow, Cut Chemist, the Avalanches, and Girl Talk who are try to take his ideas into the future.

`What Does it All Mean?` literally has a little bit of everything in it, from funk, disco, hip hop to movie clips and more. Part of the fun for me is trying to figure out where all the samples were pulled from. Outside of a few tracks like `I`m Wild About That Thing`, a cheesy track about sex, and `The Big Man Laughs, a scratch heavy track about a man laughing (which likely won`t be getting a lot of repeat plays), the album is a great place for someone with an interest in hip hop and sampling to start their collection. This is truly art and it is great to have these tracks released so younger generations can see where the music they listen to started out. `What Does it All Mean?` really shows how making good music should be more important that what you use to make it. As Steinski once said "The truth of the matter is, the legality of this doesn`t really make any difference to me, I mean, I`m gonna make the records no matter what. It`s like saying, `If you use that color blue in your painting, that`s not legal.` Well, what does that have to do with anything? It would be great if it was legal, it`s too bad it`s not, and so what?". Pick this up and get your bootleg on people!

I want to start of by saying that I know a lot of other reviewers across the intrawebs have been very harsh in saying that they are disappointed in the bands new album and sound. I understand where they are coming from as I too noticed the disappearance of a lot of the guitar and bass guitar and the bands push towards a more electronic sound. All I can say is that unlike them, I love the new direction and sound. I know that sometime you fall in love with a band and it`s sound at a certain moment, but for me it`s how the band grows that makes the biggest difference. With Intimacy, Bloc Party has shown that they are growing and are not afraid to go out on a limb to do so.

The album starts off with the quieter `Zepherus` before going into the drum crazed `Ares`. Each song on the album almost builds up the animal ferocity as the tracks go buy until it reaches a fever pitch before going into songs like `Biko` and `Signs" where it seems to left off some the wildness and show a gentler side. Then the album goes right back into the animal savagery that tracks like `Trojan Horse` bring to the album. `One Month Off` seems to be the only track on the album that harkens back to the `Silent Alarm` feel and sound. The album closer, `Ion Square`, mixes a little bit of everything that came before to have one of the most well rounded tracks on the album. A great way to end a great album.

In this reviewers opinion, Bloc Party have gone out and grabbed a lot of the same tools that other bands are using these days. Having said that, they also have come back after using those tools and presented an album that is better and different then most of the sounds out now. I am eager to see where the band goes after this as I consider this one of the their best albums to date. There is so much energy pent up in the album you can`t help but tap your foot or bang your head. Yet another in my list for album of the year. Get it now!

Monday, January 26, 2009

Of Montreal are one of several bands at the moment who are doing their best to not be labeled as making any one kind of music. Their sound can range from simple drum machines and sythns to almost thrash-worthy heavy guitars and real drums. `Skeletal Lamping` continues in this vein and even takes the band closer to perfecting its signature sound. That being mixing musical experimentation with the basic tenets of pop i.e. catchy melodies and sing-along choruses.

`Skeletal Lamping` is a much brighter and happier album than previous outing `Hissing Fauna, Are you The Destroyer`. Tracks like `Nonpareil of Favor` run the gambit of sounds from a child`s piano to electronic distortion and high pitch melodic coos. `Wicked Wisdom` sound like a hip Scissor Sisters, while `For Our Elegant Caste` sounds like a cross between ELO and The Postal Service. Lead singer Kevin Barnes has a wide vocal range going from Freddy Mercury to Elliot Smith in a moment`s notice. `Touched Something`s Hollow` starts out slow and then delves into an almost Carter USM pop sound. `Plastis Wafer` is my favourite on the album ranging from quiet melodies to wild, almost African tribal drums and back again in a seven minute wild ride. `Death Is Not A Parallel Move` is a very Beatles sound track and has a very simple guitar, bass and vocal harmony. Another one of my favorite songs on the album, `Beware Our Nubile Miscreants` has the wonderful line `he`s the sort of guy that will leave you in a k-hole to go play Halo in the other room`. Ah, good times!

It`s nice to see the band in a happy mode but I hope that they can combine the last album`s more sombre tones with this album`s cheerful side to produce a well-rounded album in the future. `Skeletal Lamping` remains a fun album with serious but often silly lyrics and highly enjoyable music.

The new album from Her Space Holiday (Marc Bianchi) is heavy on folk and light on electronics. This is fine for me but many of his fans may not like his choice of using real instruments over the computer bleeps and blips of albums past.

`Xoxo Panda and the New Kid Revival` is a nice little album that doesn`t reinvent the wheel but still manages to catch your ear. From the hand claps on `The New Kid Revival` or the shoegazeyness of `Four Tapping Shoes and a Kiss` the album has nice, sweet little tunes that are easy to enjoy. The real shame is that it`s a good album but compared to all the other "indie folk" out there, it needs something more to really stand out.

I do like the fact that Bianchi`s sound has morphed with every release, proving he is just as comfortable with sampling and drum programming as he is around live instruments. Compared to his previous work on Her Space Holiday, this album shows Marc growing up and trying different things. Whether his audience is ready for a change is a different story.

The sixth in the massively popular Kitsune Maison series (one of which was unfortunately labeled by an overenthusiastic NME as `the first new rave compilation`) has been described as a "combination of what gets played in the Kitsuné offices in Paris and what Gildas & Masaya [the label owners] spin at the few parties they deejay at…so the odd dance floor banger will still be in there!". If that is true, then that is one sweet place to have a job. This is a great collection and a contains a good sample of the tunes that Kitsuné produce besides the normal club thumpers they are generally known for.

The CD is filled with the likes of Digitalism, Fischerspooner, Heartsrevolution, Appaloosa, Etienne De Crecy, Streetlife DJs, A-trax and many more. If you are already a fan of these bands then this will only help to cement that fact. If you are new to the Kitsuné label then this is a nice "mild` sample of their artists. There is nothing on the compilation that goes to far "out there" and that can only help to widen the labels fan base (which to some may be a bad thing). Pnau`s - `With You Forever `, You Love Her Coz She`s Dead`s `Superheroes` and Lo-Fi-Fnk`s `Want U` (which, like many before, contains that piano loop from Jimi Polo`s `Better Days`) are just a few of the gems that are on this compilation containing sweet basslines, cool vocals and wicked synths.

Chairlift were formed when Aaron Pfenning, Patrick Wimberley and Caroline Polachek got together to provide background music for a haunted house in October of 2005. However, with their debut release, ` Does You Inspire You`, they have made a record much more than simply background filler.

The songs, even the cheesier tracks, have real heart and really connect with the listener, sounding like a cross between Feist (`Bruises`), The Cranberries (`Territory`), Siouxsie & the Banshees (`Make Your Mind Up`) and even a little Patsy Cline (`Don`t Give a Damn`).

At times tracks can damage the flow of the album (`Evident Utensil` for one) but it is still a wonderful bit of pop and a perfect CD to listen to as the days grow colder. I look forward to seeing what the band can do with a little more experience under their belt.

Feed the Animals` is the fourth album by Girl Talk (Gregg Gillis). It is composed almost entirely of samples taken from other artists` songs, plus minor original instrumentation by Girl Talk. There are over 300 songs sampled on Feed the Animals, with any number of them used in each one of the album`s 14 tracks. For example, the second track on the album `Shut The Club Down` merges almost seamlessly between Avril Lavigne, Jay-Z, The Kills, T-Pain, Tony Basil, Aphex Twin, Dem Franchize Boyz, Butthole Surfers, Rod Stewart and more. Sometimes using whole instrumental sections or hooks or just a drum roll or bass line. AS much as some may not like his antics, he does have a good ear and some serious mixing skill.

Although very similar to former glory `Night Ripper` in structure, Gregg seems to be finding his groove and `Feed The Animals` feel more like a real release than a slapped together mega mix. Like Steinski before him, Gregg has a similar sense and attitude towards music saying "The whole basis of the music is that people have these emotional attachments to these songs… being able to manipulate that is a really easy way to connect with people." There are a few tracks that don`t seem to go anywhere but the majority of the album is a really fun time. You may think that a release like this will suffer as the music gets dated but because he is using music from all genres and from the 60`s to now, `Feed the Animals` will remain fresh.

If you are into bootlegs, like to see pop music shaken and stirred or just like a good groove then this is the CD for you. Put together as a almost non-stop mix this is a great CD for any party. It`ll get everybody dancing and singing and in the end, that`s exactly what Girl Talk aims to do. Party over here, party over there!

Friday, January 23, 2009

Fans of Belle and Sebastian can be obsessive and they will no doubt eat up this fourteen track collection of BBC recordings that cover the period 1996 to 2001. Fans will love new versions of favourites `Shoot the Sexual Athlete` , `Nothing in the Silence`, the wonderful `Lazy Line Painter Jane`, and two of my favorite tracks `Judy and The Dream Of Horses` and `The Stars of Track and Field`.

At the time the group rarely performed live, so these songs are noticeably different from their studio counterparts. The track selection is also so good that this CD could almost be a best-of album. The limited, deluxe double CD also contains a bonus disc of live recordings of a Belfast show. If you have never heard Belle & Sebastian then this is a great introduction to the band. If you are already a fan, then...well... it`s just really nice to have.

`So Who`s Paranoid` is the tenth studio album from the sometimes Punk, sometimes Goth Rock, sometimes just plain rockin` band, The Damned. Coming 7 years after their last release, one could wonder if a band formed in 1976 could still "live" within the musical landscape of today. The answer to that question is...a resounding yes.

There are tracks that bring back the punk glory of years past like `Danger to Yourself` and `Maid For Pleasure`. There`s a few for the goth fans like `Nature`s Dark Passion` and `Perfect Sunday`. There`s even a track for the psychedelic crowd with the album closer ` Dark Asteroid` (like, Whoa, Man). `Since I Met You`, one of my favorite tracks on the album, is just plain silly featuring the brutally honest "Since I met you, the lyrics of songs, mean something new to me, they sound more real, they reflect how I feel, even the stupid ones." It adds a little cheekiness to the album, which is one of the many things I dig about The Damned.

With lyrics that are fun and still provoking, The Damned are still alive and kicking. Kicking out the Jams, that is, natch!

27 years between colaborations, really? Brian Eno did produce several Talking Heads albums but David Byrne has only recorded one other collaboration with Eno, 1981`s `My Life in the Bush of Ghosts`. I mean come on! That album has even been cited as a musical breakthrough and one of the first albums to utilize sampling as we know it today. Why these two don`t make more music together is beyond me.

`Everything That Happens Will Happen Today` is largely a different and much more accessible album then `My Life in the Bush of Ghosts`. The album is really enjoyable and has some of the catchiest songs Byrne has come up with in years . It`s friendly, pop-oriented and has a few really nice surprises, like the very cool `Wanted For Life`, `I Feel My Stuff` ,`Strange Overtones` and `The River`.

Byrne and Eno prove that they are as innovative today as they were 20 years ago. If you have a sense of musical adventure and like to see artists using more than just typical means to make musical ideas, then I suggest you pick up` Everything That Happens Will Happen Today`. I just hope it doesn`t take another twenty years for these two giants to make another album together.

In a time when iPod playlists shuffle through limitless genres, Toronto native Colin Munroe breaks through with a sound so diverse that praise is heaped on him from hip-hop heads and pop-rock devotees alike. Today, Pitchfork.tv premieres the video for “Piano Lessons” directed by Philip Sportel. It’s the latest in a string of innovative videos from one of the most versatile artists in the game.

As heard on the acclaimed mixtape Colin Munroe is the Unsung Hero (free download here: http://www.onsmash.com/unsunghero/), “Piano Lessons” features the production skills of accomplished Detroit artist Black Milk and a verse from lauded Brooklyn MC Joell Ortiz. Additional favorites from hip-hop’s modern day movement also make appearances on the mixtape including Wale, Blaqstarr, Mickey Factz and Drake.

But don’t let the fact that Colin released a mixtape fool you; he leaves the rapping to the MC’s. A testament to his assorted taste, Unsung Hero also features a revox of Bob Dylan’s “Who Killed Davey Moore” and a cover of U2’s “Sunday Bloody Sunday.”

Colin is currently putting the final touches on his debut album, Don’t Think Less of Me, due this spring via Universal Motown.